Battipaglia. The presentation of the book written by Mario Avagliano entitled “The Broken Lives of the Fosse Ardeatine” took place yesterday evening at Palazzo di Città. A very touching meeting, as part of the “Il Maggio dei Libri” initiative, for the narrative introduced and moderated by professor Tony Brewer on the Fosse Ardeatine massacre. In his writing, Mario Avagliano tells an indelible piece of history about the partisan resistance against the Nazis and fascists. In this case he described among the many episodes the unforgettable one of 24 March 1944 where in a quarry on Via Ardeatina in the capital, the Germans killed 335 men by shooting each one in the head. They are political prisoners and partisans of all the anti-fascist forces, civil and military, many Jews, some common prisoners and unsuspecting citizens unrelated to the Resistance, sacrificed in a proportion – which later turned out to be incorrect due to excess – of ten to one following a partisan attack in via Rasella, which cost the lives of 33 Reich soldiers. It is the largest massacre carried out by the Nazis in a metropolitan area and will profoundly mark post-war Italian history and memory. Much is known about the Fosse Ardeatine massacre. However, little is known about the individual stories of the victims, to whom – with a few exceptions – until now only one line was dedicated in ceremonies and publications with their personal details in a long list. This book tells their story for the first time, one by one.
